Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/topics27/t27900

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27901
 February 1                                               Evening

 \\"Thy love to me was wonderful."\\
                                                  --2 Samuel 1:26

    Come, dear readers, let each one of us speak for himself of
 the wonderful love, not of Jonathan, but of Jesus. We will not
 relate what we have been told, but the things which we have
 tasted and handled-of the love of Christ. Thy love to me, O
 Jesus, was wonderful when I was a stranger wandering far from
 thee, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Thy
 love restrained me from committing the sin which is unto death,
 and withheld me from self-destruction. Thy love held back the
 axe when Justice said, "Cut it down! why cumbereth it the
 ground?" Thy love drew me into the wilderness, stripped me
 there, and made me feel the guilt of my sin, and the burden of
 mine iniquity. Thy love spake thus comfortably to me when, I was
 sore dismayed--"Come unto me, and I will give thee rest." Oh,
 how matchless thy love when, in a moment, thou didst wash my
 sins away, and make my polluted soul, which was crimson with the
 blood of my nativity, and black with the grime of my
 transgressions, to be white as the driven snow, and pure as the
 finest wool. How thou didst commend thy love when thou didst
 whisper in my ears, "I am thine and thou art mine." Kind were
 those accents when thou saidst, "The Father himself loveth you."
 And sweet the moments, passing sweet, when thou declaredst to me
 "the love of the Spirit." Never shall my soul forget those
 chambers of fellowship where thou has unveiled thyself to me.
 Had Moses his cleft in the rock, where he saw the train, the
 back parts of his God? We, too, have had our clefts in the rock,
 where we have seen the full splendours of the Godhead in the
 person of Christ. Did David remember the tracks of the wild
 goat, the land of Jordan and the Hermonites? We, too, can
 remember spots to memory dear, equal to these in blessedness.
 Precious Lord Jesus, give us a fresh draught of thy wondrous
 love to begin the month with. Amen.

27902
 February 2                                               Evening

 \\"And these are ancient things."\\
                                              --1 Chronicles 4:22

    Yet not so ancient as those precious things which are the
 delight of our souls. Let us for a moment recount them, telling
 them over as misers count their gold. \\The sovereign choice\\
 of the Father, by which he elected us unto eternal life, or ever
 the earth was, is a matter of vast antiquity, since no date can
 be conceived for it by the mind of man. We were chosen from
 before the foundations of the world. \\Everlasting love\\ went
 with the choice, for it was not a bare act of divine will by
 which we were set apart, but the divine affections were
 concerned. The Father loved us in and from the beginning. Here
 is a theme for daily contemplation. \\The eternal purpose\\ to
 redeem us from our foreseen ruin, to cleanse and sanctify us,
 and at last to glorify us, was of infinite antiquity, and runs
 side by side with immutable love and absolute sovereignty. \\The\\
 \\covenant\\ is always described as being everlasting, and
 Jesus, the second party in it, had his goings forth of old; he
 struck hands in sacred suretyship long ere the first of the
 stars began to shine, and it was in him that the elect were
 ordained unto eternal life. Thus in the divine purpose a most
 blessed covenant union was established between the Son of God
 and his elect people, which will remain as the foundation of
 their safety when time shall be no more. Is it not well to be
 conversant with these ancient things? Is it not shameful that
 they should be so much neglected and even rejected by the bulk
 of professors? If they knew more of their own sin, would they
 not be more ready to adore distinguishing grace? Let us both
 admire and adore tonight, as we sing--

                "A monument of grace,
                A sinner saved by blood;
                The streams of love I trace
                Up to the Fountain, God;
                And in his sacred bosom see
                Eternal thoughts of Love to me."

27903
 February 3                                               Evening

 \\"Tell me ... where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock\\
 \\to rest at noon."\\
                                            --Song of Solomon 1:7

    These words express the desire of the believer after Christ,
 and his longing for present communion with him. Where doest thou
 feed thy flock? In \\thy house\\? I will go, if I may find thee
 there. In private \\prayer\\? Then I will pray without ceasing.
 In the \\Word\\? Then I will read it diligently. In thine
 \\ordinances\\? Then I will walk in them with all my heart. Tell
 me where thou feedest, for wherever thou standest as the
 Shepherd, there will I lie down as a sheep; for none but thyself
 can supply my need. I cannot be satisfied to be apart from thee.
 My soul hungers and thirsts for the refreshment of thy presence.
 "Where dost thou make thy flock to rest at noon?" for whether at
 dawn or at noon, my only rest must be where thou art and thy
 beloved flock. My soul's rest must be a grace-given rest, and
 can only be found in thee. Where is the shadow of that rock? Why
 should I not repose beneath it? "Why should I be as one that
 turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?" Thou hast
 companions--why should I not be one? Satan tells me I am
 unworthy; but I always was unworthy, and yet thou hast long
 loved me; and therefore my unworthiness cannot be a bar to my
 having fellowship with thee now. It is true I am weak in faith,
 and prone to fall, but my very feebleness is the reason why I
 should always be where thou feedest thy flock, that I may be
 strengthened, and preserved in safety beside the still waters.
 Why should I turn aside? There is no reason why I should, but
 there are a thousand reasons why I should not, for Jesus beckons
 me to come. If he withdrew himself a little, it is but to make
 me prize his presence more. Now that I am grieved and distressed
 at being away from him, he will lead me yet again to that
 sheltered nook where the lambs of his fold are sheltered from
 the burning sun.

27904
 February 4                                               Evening

 \\"Your refuge from the avenger of blood."\\
                                                    --Joshua 20:3

    It is said that in the land of Canaan, cities of refuge were
 so arranged, that any man might reach one of them within half a
 day at the utmost. Even so the word of our salvation is near to
 us; Jesus is a present Saviour, and the way to him is short; it
 is but a simple renunciation of our own merit, and a laying hold
 of Jesus, to be our all in all. With regard to the roads to the
 city of refuge, we are told that they were strictly preserved,
 every river was bridged, and every obstruction removed, so that
 the man who fled might find an easy passage to the city. Once a
 year the elders went along the roads and saw to their order, so
 that nothing might impede the flight of any one, and cause him,
 through delay, to be overtaken and slain. How graciously do the
 promises of the gospel remove stumbling blocks from the way!
 Wherever there were by-roads and turnings, there were fixed up
 hand-posts, with the inscription upon them--"To the city of
 refuge!" This is a picture of the road to Christ Jesus. It is no
 roundabout road of the law; it is no obeying this, that, and the
 other; it is a straight road: "Believe, and live." It is a road
 so hard, that no self-righteous man can ever tread it, but so
 easy, that every sinner, who knows himself to be a sinner may by
 it find his way to heaven. No sooner did the man-slayer reach
 the outworks of the city than he was safe; it was not necessary
 for him to pass far within the walls, but the suburbs themselves
 were sufficient protection. Learn hence, that if you do but
 touch the hem of Christ's garment, you shall be made whole; if
 you do but lay hold upon him with "faith as a grain of mustard
 seed," you are safe.

                "A little genuine grace ensures
                The death of all our sins."

 Only waste no time, loiter not by the way, for the avenger of
 blood is swift of foot; and it may be he is at your heels at
 this still hour of eventide.

27905
 February 5                                               Evening

 \\"At that time Jesus answered."\\
                                                  --Matthew 11:25

    This is a singular way in which to commence a verse--"At that
 time Jesus answered." If you will look at the context you will
 not perceive that any person had asked him a question, or that
 he was in conversation with any human being. Yet it is written,
 "Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father." When a man
 answers, he answers a person who has been speaking to him. Who,
 then, had spoken to Christ? his Father. Yet there is no record
 of it; and this should teach us that Jesus had constant
 fellowship with his Father, and that God spake into his heart so
 often, so continually, that it was not a circumstance singular
 enough to be recorded. It was the habit and life of Jesus to
 talk with God. Even as Jesus was, in this world, so are we; let
 us therefore learn the lesson which this simple statement
 concerning him teaches us. May we likewise have silent
 fellowship with the Father, so that often we may answer him, and
 though the world wotteth not to whom we speak, may we be
 responding to that secret voice unheard of any other ear, which
 our own ear, opened by the Spirit of God, recognizes with joy.
 God has spoken to us, let us speak to God--either to set our
 seal that God is true and faithful to his promise, or to confess
 the sin of which the Spirit of God has convinced us, or to
 acknowledge the mercy which God's providence has given, or to
 express assent to the great truths which God the Holy Ghost has
 opened to our understanding. What a privilege is intimate
 communion with the Father of our spirits! It is a secret hidden
 from the world, a joy with which even the nearest friend
 intermeddleth not. If we would hear the whispers of God's love,
 our ear must be purged and fitted to listen to his voice. This
 very evening may our hearts be in such a state, that when God
 speaks to us, we, like Jesus, may be prepared at once to answer
 him.
27906
 February 6                                               Evening

 \\"Pray one for another."\\
                                                     --James 5:16

    As an encouragement cheerfully to offer intercessory prayer,
 remember that \\such prayer is the sweetest God ever hears\\,
 for the prayer of Christ is of this character. In all the
 incense which our Great High Priest now puts into the golden
 censer, there is not a single grain for himself. His
 intercession must be the most acceptable of all
 supplications--and the more like our prayer is to Christ's, the
 sweeter it will be; thus while petitions for ourselves will be
 accepted, our pleadings for others, having in them more of the
 fruits of the Spirit, more love, more faith, more brotherly
 kindness, will be, through the precious merits of Jesus, the
 sweetest oblation that we can offer to God, the very fat of our
 sacrifice. Remember, again, that \\intercessory prayer is\\
 \\exceedingly prevalent\\. What wonders it has wrought! The Word
 of God teems with its marvellous deeds. Believer, thou hast a
 mighty engine in thy hand, use it well, use it constantly, use
 it with faith, and thou shalt surely be a benefactor to thy
 brethren. When thou hast the King's ear, speak to him for the
 suffering members of his body. When thou art favoured to draw
 very near to his throne, and the King saith to thee, "Ask, and I
 will give thee what thou wilt," let thy petitions be, not for
 thyself alone, but for the many who need his aid. If thou hast
 grace at all, and art not an intercessor, that grace must be
 small as a grain of mustard seed. Thou hast just enough grace to
 float thy soul clear from the quicksand, but thou hast no deep
 floods of grace, or else thou wouldst carry in thy joyous bark a
 weighty cargo of the wants of others, and thou wouldst bring
 back from thy Lord, for them, rich blessings which but for thee
 they might not have obtained:--

             "Oh, let my hands forget their skill,
             My tongue be silent, cold, and still,
             This bounding heart forget to beat,
             If I forget the mercy-seat!"

27907
 February 7                                               Evening

 \\"And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them,\\
 \\Come up hither."\\
                                               --Revelation 11:12

    Without considering these words in their prophetical
 connection, let us regard them as the invitation of our great
 Forerunner to his sanctified people. In due time there shall be
 heard "a great voice from heaven" to every believer, saying,
 "Come up hither." This should be to the saints \\the subject of\\
 \\joyful anticipation\\. Instead of dreading the time when we
 shall leave this world to go unto the Father, we should be
 panting for the hour of our emancipation. Our song should be--

              "My heart is with him on his throne,
              And ill can brook delay;
              Each moment listening for the voice,
              'Rise up and come away.'"

 We are not called down to the grave, but up to the skies. Our
 heaven-born spirits should long for their native air. Yet
 should the celestial summons be \\the object of patient\\
 \\waiting\\. Our God knows best when to bid us "Come up
 thither." We must not wish to antedate the period of our
 departure. I know that strong love will make us cry,

              "O Lord of Hosts, the waves divide,
              And land us all in heaven;"

 but patience must have her perfect work. God ordains with
 accurate wisdom the most fitting time for the redeemed to abide
 below. Surely, if there could be regrets in heaven, the saints
 might mourn that they did not live longer here to do more good.
 Oh, for more sheaves for my Lord's garner! more jewels for his
 crown! But how, unless there be more work? True, there is the
 other side of it, that, living so briefly, our sins are the
 fewer; but oh! when we are fully serving God, and he is giving
 us to scatter precious seed, and reap a hundredfold, we would
 even say it is well for us to abide where we are. Whether our
 Master shall say "go," or "stay," let us be equally well pleased
 so long as he indulges us with his presence.
27908
 February 8                                               Evening

 \\"He shall save his people from their sins."\\
                                                   --Matthew 1:21

    Many persons, if they are asked what they understand by
 salvation, will reply, "Being saved from hell and taken to
 heaven." This is one result of salvation, but it is not one
 tithe of what is contained in that boon. It is true our Lord
 Jesus Christ does redeem all his people from the wrath to come;
 he saves them from the fearful condemnation which their sins had
 brought upon them; but his triumph is far more complete than
 this. He saves his people "from their sins." Oh! sweet
 deliverance from our worst foes. Where Christ works a saving
 work, he casts Satan from his throne, and will not let him be
 master any longer. No man is a true Christian if sin reigns in
 his mortal body. Sin will be in us--it will never be utterly
 expelled till the spirit enters glory; but it will never have
 \\dominion\\. There will be a striving for dominion--a lusting
 against the new law and the new spirit which God has
 implanted--but sin will never get the upper hand so as to be
 absolute monarch of our nature. Christ will be Master of the
 heart, and sin must be mortified. The Lion of the tribe of Judah
 shall prevail, and the dragon shall be cast out. Professor! is
 sin subdued in you? If your \\life\\ is unholy your \\heart\\ is
 unchanged, and if your heart is unchanged you are an unsaved
 person. If the Saviour has not sanctified you, renewed you,
 given you a hatred of sin and a love of holiness, he has done
 nothing in you of a saving character. The grace which does not
 make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ
 saves his people, not in their sins, but \\from\\ them. "Without
 holiness no man shall see the Lord." "Let every one that nameth
 the name of Christ depart from iniquity." If not saved from sin,
 how shall we hope to be counted among his people. Lord, save me
 now from all evil, and enable me to honour my Saviour.

27909
 February 9                                               Evening

 \\"Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil [or,\\
 \\the evil one]."\\
                                                      --Luke 11:4

    What we are taught to seek or shun in prayer, we should
 equally pursue or avoid in action. Very earnestly, therefore,
 should we avoid temptation, seeking to walk so guardedly in the
 path of obedience, that we may never tempt the devil to tempt
 us. We are not to enter the thicket in search of the lion.
 Dearly might we pay for such presumption. This lion may cross
 our path or leap upon us from the thicket, but we have nothing
 to do with hunting him. He that meeteth with him, even though he
 winneth the day, will find it a stern struggle. Let the
 Christian pray that he may be spared the encounter. Our Saviour,
 who had experience of what temptation meant, thus earnestly
 admonished his disciples--"Pray that ye enter not into
 temptation."

    But let us do as we will, we shall be tempted; hence the
 prayer "deliver us from evil." God had one Son without sin; but
 he has no son without temptation. The natural man is born to
 trouble as the sparks fly upwards, and the Christian man is born
 to temptation just as certainly. We must be always on our watch
 against Satan, because, like a thief, he gives no intimation of
 his approach. Believers who have had experience of the ways of
 Satan, know that there are certain seasons when he will most
 probably make an attack, just as at certain seasons bleak winds
 may be expected; thus the Christian is put on a double guard by
 fear of danger, and the danger is averted by preparing to meet
 it. Prevention is better than cure: it is better to be so well
 armed that the devil will not attack you, than to endure the
 perils of the fight, even though you come off a conqueror. Pray
 this evening first that you may not be tempted, and next that if
 temptation be permitted, you may be delivered from the evil one.

27910
 February 10                                              Evening

 \\"I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions,\\
 \\and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed\\
 \\thee."\\
                                                   --Isaiah 44:22

    Attentively observe THE INSTRUCTIVE SIMILITUDE: our sins are
 like a \\cloud\\. As clouds are of many shapes and shades, so
 are our transgressions. As clouds obscure the light of the sun,
 and darken the landscape beneath, so do our sins hide from us
 the light of Jehovah's face, and cause us to sit in the shadow
 of death. They are earth-born things, and rise from the miry
 places of our nature; and when so collected that their measure
 is full, they threaten us with storm and tempest. Alas! that,
 unlike clouds, our sins yield us no genial showers, but rather
 threaten to deluge us with a fiery flood of destruction. O ye
 black clouds of sin, how can it be fair weather with our souls
 while ye remain?

    Let our joyful eye dwell upon THE NOTABLE ACT of divine
 mercy--"blotting out." God himself appears upon the scene, and
 in divine benignity, instead of manifesting his anger, reveals
 his grace: he at once and for ever effectually removes the
 mischief, not by blowing away the cloud, but by blotting it out
 from existence once for all. Against the justified man no sin
 remains, the great transaction of the cross has eternally
 removed his transgressions from him. On Calvary's summit the
 great deed, by which the sin of all the chosen was for ever put
 away, was completely and effectually performed.

    Practically let us obey THE GRACIOUS COMMAND, "\\return unto\\
 \\me\\." Why should pardoned sinners live at a distance from
 their God? If we have been forgiven all our sins, let no legal
 fear withhold us from the boldest access to our Lord. Let
 backslidings be bemoaned, but let us not persevere in them. To
 the greatest possible nearness of communion with the Lord, let
 us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, strive mightily to return.
 O Lord, this night restore us!
27911
 February 11                                              Evening

 \\"Thou hast left thy first love."\\
                                                 --Revelation 2:4

    Ever to be remembered is that best and brightest of hours,
 when first we saw the Lord, lost our burden, received the roll
 of promise, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on our way in
 peace. It was spring time in the soul; the winter was past; the
 mutterings of Sinai's thunders were hushed; the flashings of its
 lightnings were no more perceived; God was beheld as reconciled;
 the law threatened no vengeance, justice demanded no punishment.
 Then the flowers appeared in our heart; hope, love, peace, and
 patience sprung from the sod; the hyacinth of repentance, the
 snowdrop of pure holiness, the crocus of golden faith, the
 daffodil of early love, all decked the garden of the soul. The
 time of the singing of birds was come, and we rejoiced with
 thanksgiving; we magnified the holy name of our forgiving God,
 and our resolve was, "Lord, I am thine, wholly thine; all I am,
 and all I have, I would devote to thee. Thou hast bought me
 with thy blood--let me spend myself and be spent in thy service.
 In life and in death let me be consecrated to thee." \\How have\\
 \\we kept this resolve\\? Our espousal love burned with a holy
 flame of devoutedness to Jesus--is it the same \\now\\? Might
 not Jesus well say to us, "I have somewhat against thee, because
 thou hast left thy first love"? Alas! it is but little we have
 done for our Master's glory. Our winter has lasted all too long.
 We are as cold as ice when we should feel a summer's glow and
 bloom with sacred flowers. We give to God pence when he
 deserveth pounds, nay, deserveth our heart's blood to be coined
 in the service of his church and of his truth. But shall we
 continue thus? O Lord, after thou hast so richly blessed us,
 shall we be ungrateful and become indifferent to thy good cause
 and work? O quicken us that we may return to our first love, and
 do our first works! Send us a genial spring, O Sun of
 Righteousness.
27912
 February 12                                              Evening

 \\"He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with\\
 \\you for ever."\\
                                                     --John 14:16

     Great Father revealed himself to believers of old before the
 coming of his Son, and was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as
 the God Almighty. Then Jesus came, and the ever-blessed Son in
 his own proper person, was the delight of his people's eyes. At
 the time of the Redeemer's ascension, the Holy Spirit became the
 head of the present dispensation, and his power was gloriously
 manifested in and after Pentecost. He remains at this hour the
 present Immanuel--God with us, dwelling in and with his people,
 quickening, guiding, and ruling in their midst. Is his presence
 recognized as it ought to be? We cannot control his working; he
 is most sovereign in all his operations, but are we sufficiently
 anxious to obtain his help, or sufficiently watchful lest we
 provoke him to withdraw his aid? Without him we can do nothing,
 but by his almighty energy the most extraordinary results can be
 produced: everything depends upon his manifesting or concealing
 his power. Do we always look up to him both for our inner life
 and our outward service with the respectful dependence which is
 fitting? Do we not too often run before his call and act
 independently of his aid? Let us humble ourselves this evening
 for past neglects, and now entreat the heavenly dew to rest upon
 us, the sacred oil to anoint us, the celestial flame to burn
 within us. The Holy Ghost is no temporary gift, he abides with
 the saints. We have but to seek him aright, and he will be found
 of us. He is jealous, but he is pitiful; if he leaves in anger,
 he returns in mercy. Condescending and tender, he does not
 weary of us, but awaits to be gracious still.

              Sin has been hammering my heart
              Unto a hardness, void of love,
              Let supplying grace to cross his art
              Drop from above.

27913
 February 13                                              Evening

 \\"There is therefore now no condemnation."\\
                                                     --Romans 8:1

    Come, my soul, think thou of this. Believing in Jesus, thou
 art actually and effectually cleared from guilt; thou art led
 out of thy prison. Thou art no more in fetters as a bond-slave;
 thou art delivered \\now\\ from the bondage of the law; thou art
 freed from sin, and canst walk at large as a freeman, thy
 Saviour's blood has procured thy full discharge. Thou hast a
 right now to approach thy Father's throne. No flames of
 vengeance are there to scare thee now; no fiery sword; justice
 cannot smite the innocent. Thy disabilities are taken away: thou
 wast once unable to see thy Father's face: thou canst see it
 now. Thou couldst not speak with him: but now thou hast access
 with boldness. Once there was a fear of hell upon thee; but thou
 hast no fear of it now, for how can there be punishment for the
 guiltless? He who believeth is not condemned, and cannot be
 punished. And more than all, the privileges thou mightst have
 enjoyed, if thou hadst never sinned, are thine now that thou art
 justified. All the blessings which thou wouldst have had if thou
 hadst kept the law, and more, are thine, because Christ has kept
 it for thee. All the love and the acceptance which perfect
 obedience could have obtained of God, belong to thee, because
 Christ was perfectly obedient on thy behalf, and hath imputed
 all his merits to thy account, that thou mightst be exceeding
 rich through him, who for thy sake became exceeding poor. Oh!
 how great the debt of love and gratitude thou owest to thy
 Saviour!

           "A debtor to mercy alone,
           Of covenant mercy I sing;
           Nor fear with thy righteousness on,
           My person and offerings to bring:
           The terrors of law and of God,
           With me can have nothing to do;
           My Saviour's obedience and blood
           Hide all my transgressions from view."
27914
 February 14                                              Evening

 \\"She was healed immediately."\\
                                                      --Luke 8:47

    One of the most touching and teaching of the Saviour's
 miracles is before us to-night. The woman was very ignorant. She
 imagined that virtue came out of Christ by a law of necessity,
 without his knowledge or direct will. Moreover, she was a
 stranger to the generosity of Jesus' character, or she would not
 have gone behind to steal the cure which he was so ready to
 bestow. Misery should always place itself right in the face of
 mercy. Had she known the love of Jesus' heart, she would have
 said, "I have but to put myself where he can see me--his
 omniscience will teach him my case, and his love at once will
 work my cure." We admire her faith, but we marvel at her
 ignorance. After she had obtained the cure, she rejoiced with
 trembling: glad was she that the divine virtue had wrought a
 marvel in her; but she feared lest Christ should retract the
 blessing, and put a negative upon the grant of his grace: little
 did she comprehend the fulness of his love! We have not so
 clear a view of him as we could wish; we know not the heights
 and depths of his love; but we know of a surety that he is too
 good to withdraw from a trembling soul the gift which it has
 been able to obtain. But here is the marvel of it: little as was
 her knowledge, her faith, because it was real faith, saved her,
 and saved her at once. There was no tedious delay--faith's
 miracle was instantaneous. If we have faith as a grain of
 mustard seed, salvation is our present and eternal possession.
 If in the list of the Lord's children we are written as the
 feeblest of the family, yet, being heirs through faith, no
 power, human or devilish, can eject us from salvation. If we
 dare not lean our heads upon his bosom with John, yet if we can
 venture in the press behind him, and touch the hem of his
 garment, we are made whole. Courage, timid one! thy faith hath
 saved thee; go in peace. "\\Being\\ justified by faith, we
 \\have\\ peace with God."

27915
 February 15                                              Evening

 \\"Whereby they have made thee glad."\\
                                                     --Psalm 45:8

    And who are thus privileged to make the Saviour glad? His
 church--his people. But is it possible? He makes \\us\\ glad,
 but how can \\we make him glad\\? By our love. Ah! we think it
 so cold, so faint; and so, indeed, we must sorrowfully confess
 it to be, but it is very sweet to Christ. Hear his own eulogy of
 that love in the golden Canticle: "How fair is thy love, my
 sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine!" See,
 loving heart, how he delights in you. When you lean your head on
 his bosom, you not only receive, but you give him joy; when you
 gaze with love upon his all-glorious face, you not only obtain
 comfort, but impart delight. Our \\praise\\, too, gives him
 joy--not the song of the lips alone, but the melody of the
 heart's deep gratitude. Our \\gifts\\, too, are very pleasant to
 him; he loves to see us lay our time, our talents, our substance
 upon the altar, not for the value of what we give, but for the
 sake of the motive from which the gift springs. To him the lowly
 offerings of his saints are more acceptable than the thousands
 of gold and silver. \\Holiness\\ is like frankincense and myrrh
 to him. Forgive your enemy, and you make Christ glad; distribute
 of your substance to the poor, and he rejoices; be the means of
 saving souls, and you give him to see of the travail of his
 soul; proclaim his gospel, and you are a sweet savour unto him;
 go among the ignorant and lift up the cross, and you have given
 him honour. It is in your power even now to break the alabaster
 box, and pour the precious oil of joy upon his head, as did the
 woman of old, whose memorial is to this day set forth wherever
 the gospel is preached. Will you be backward then? Will you not
 perfume your beloved Lord with the myrrh and aloes, and cassia,
 of your heart's praise? Yes, ye ivory palaces, ye shall hear the
 songs of the saints!
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